Few know that Rolex’s sponsorship of golf began with a simple gentleman’s handshake in 1967, when it partnered with Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, known as the Big Three.
The Masters Tournament, a Rolex-sponsored event that begins Thursday, will be missing one of Rolex’s biggest Testimonees, who hasn’t exactly behaved like a gentleman recently. Tiger Woods, whom Rolex calls “a living golf legend,” said he is “stepping away” from the sport after last month’s car crash, in which he rolled his vehicle, and a DUI-related arrest.
While Rolex is protective of its image, it appears to have kept the golf legend as a brand ambassador, at least for now. In 2010, several brands, including AT&T and Gillette, decided to drop Woods after he admitted to a pattern of affairs following another car accident amid intense tabloid and mainstream coverage. No other Testimonee has had such high-profile scandals — though Rolex has shown it can drop them when needed.
In Jan. 2024, Rolex confirmed it had cut ties with Alexander Zverev, a German tennis player, shortly before he was set to face a public trial in Berlin for allegations of domestic abuse involving his former partner.
Woods, however, who has remained on Rolex’s roster for 15 years, seems a favorite. Despite his record of reckless behavior, including cheating on his wife and driving impaired, he has reached a level of loyalty at Rolex rarely seen in modern sports sponsorships, perhaps a sign of how much the Swiss brand values legacy among its Testimonees.